No charges against owner of South Beach club where girl stripped

Vilbert Jean, Marlene San Vicente, DeWayne Ward charged

MIAMI - No charges have been filed against the owner of Club Madonna, an all-nude strip club in South Beach, where police say a 13-year-old girl danced for about a week.

Vilbert Jean, 36, Marlene San Vicente, 22, and DeWayne Ward, 18, are charged with human trafficking, delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and lewd and lascivious conduct on a person less than 16.

"It's a really sad comment on society as a whole that this crime even exists," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

The 13-year-old girl was reported missing on Dec. 10, 2013, according to an arrest affidavit. She told police she ran away from home with two 15-year-old girls.

Three days later, Jean, San Vicente, and Ward forced her to have sex with a man at a hotel, according to the charges.

San Vicente, a dancer at Club Madonna, then brought the girl there, said owner Leroy Griffith. She tutored the girl on how to make the most money stripping, says the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

The girl worked at Club Madonna under the name "Peaches" and was never asked to provide identification to prove her age at the club, according to an arrest affidavit. She made about $1,150 in about a week.

"I don't understand how in the world anyone who is the manager of the club can allow someone into the club to begin with without checking your ID," said former federal prosecutor David Weinstein.

It's unclear if the club or Griffith will face criminal charges.

In the meantime, despite being charged with a nonbondable offense, Vilbert Jean and Marlene San Vicente posted $21,000 bond on Tuesday and rearrested a day later, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Janelle Hall.

"The inmates were booked in accordance with the statute number indicated on the A-form (arrest form) prepared by the arresting agency," said Hall.

Human trafficking is a nonbondable offense under certain conditions, including, "commercial sexual activity in which any child under the age of 18 is involved," according to Florida statues. The statute goes on to say anyone who does that "commitsa felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life."

A search warrant says a fourth person, a man identified only known as AP, is also being sought.

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